What a Way to Finish the Season!!

Einstein Wrestling Wins District Title

Einstein wrestling wins District title

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016

Einstein champions and fans

The Einstein wrestling team capped off a great season by winning a district title at the end of season tournament on Tuesday.

The Champion Tigers scored 280 points to edge out 2nd place Meadowdale by 20 points. The team title is the first in the career of head coach Derek Norton, who is himself an Einstein alumnus. Coach Norton came home to take over his childhood team in 2001 and has come close to a title several times, including a 2nd place team finish last season. 

Einstein placed 13 wrestlers in the top three across the eighteen weight classes they participated in.

Leading the way for the Tigers were District Champions Josh Fahey, Kody Carpenter, Curt Tanaka, Devin Leach, Deshawn Alexander, and Luke Hohenstein.

In addition to the 6 champions, Einstein wrestlers Austin Newman, Ryan Araujo, Terrill Martinez, and Taejin Thongdee placed 2nd, while Jordan Sims, Norman Bada, and Voix Bull placed 3rd.

For Kody Carpenter and Devin Leach this was the second time they have taken home district titles.

Curt Tanaka, Devin Leach, and Deshawn Alexander each finished the season undefeated. 

Einstein Placers:
88: Josh Fahey 1st (7th grade)
108: Kody Carpenter 1st (8th grade)
113: Curt Tanaka 1st (8th grade)
123: Devin Leach 1st (8th grade)
128: Austin Newman 2nd (8th grade)
128: Jordan Sims 3rd (7th grade)
133: Ryan Araujo 2nd (8th grade)
140: Norman Bada 3rd (8th grade)
148: Terrill Martinez 2nd (8th grade)
157: Deshawn Alexander 1st (8th grade)
167: Voix Bull 3rd (8th grade)
178: Taejin Thongdee 2nd (7th grade)
278: Luke Hohenstein 1st (7th grade)

--Clark Norton

Can I Just Say...

I love Ben.  He was so patient in his suffering this week.
I think that he had an ear infection starting on Friday.  But it wasn't that bad...until he was screaming in pain in the middle of the night on Saturday.  Poor guy.  And I had such an intense Sunday (and Derek was working) that I couldn't take him to urgent care until Sunday afternoon at 4 pm.  He kept reminding me that his ear hurt and asking when we could go to the doctor.  But he let me finish the 70 things that had to be done before we went to the doctor.  Thank heaven for Seattle Children's Urgent Care.  He is now on antibiotics and doing much better.
Whew.

Last Sunday he had a fever.  

Which turned into the highest volume of snot I have ever seen come out of one person.  

He even managed to have fun at the Urgent Care.

Easter Pics--Over the Years

Part of the Easter celebration for me is a fresh spring outfit for each kid...and a photo.  I thought it would make a fun post to put all those photos together.  Watching my kids grow is one of my favorite parts of being their mom.  In some ways I have been thinking it was easier to get good pics of them as they aged.  As I look through these I'm thinking, maybe not!

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016
Jenn Reese Photography

Pi Day

Two holidays with food in one week!  I forced myself not to make a dessert on St. Patty's day since we had just celebrated Pi Day by making mini apple pies!  I let the kids help with each step of the process except rolling out the dough.
They even helped cut and peel the apples and everyone still has all their fingers.  Whew.

Sarah got a lattice top because I did a bad job rolling out her dough.  Oops. 

Ben wanted a hole in the top so his was like a volcano.  

Libby did a design in the top, but it has been almost a week.  This mom can't remember everything.  

My favorite part of the night.  We always called these tarts.  Cinnamon and Sugar and butter in the pastry dough.  So so good.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

For me the only real way to celebrate St. Patrick's day is with food.  I even forgot to wear green until late in the afternoon.

Breakfast was green eggs and bacon with green milk on a green plate.

Lunch was mostly green too.  

And then for dinner we had corned beef and cabbage, potatoes (the real Irish food), soda bread, carrots, and green salad.  We ate with Leroy (Derek's former work wife who has now transferred to the training unit), Mike (who we also don't get to see much anymore), and my favorite teacher colleague, Heidi (she wanted to help me win a million with my Safeway monopoly quest, so we arranged the ticket handoff at dinner).  It was a delicious day.  I am always so thankful when the decision about what to cook is simplified!

Pinewood Derby

Last year Derek bought Pinewood Derby kits for all the kids (for those who don't know, it is a plain block of wood with 2 grooves for wheels, 4 wheels and the nails that attach the wheels.  You design and paint the car and try to make the fastest car at the Derby races.)  We never got around to making them.  This year, the girls Libby's age were invited to participate.  So, I pulled out the kits from last year.  And away we went.  It was like this.  5 of us started the project.  Mom did the painting and decorating, and mom and dad did the finishing touches.  Maybe our kids were a bit too young (and/or too busy!).  But it was fun.  And we are excited for next year, thanks to all we learned from our cars' performance this year and tips from several experts.

Here are pics from the process.

I posted these last week, but wanted all the derby pics together in one post...

Dad sanding wheels down. 

Ben wanted his car number to be our house number (turns out you don't have to put a number on, they do that for you at the race).

Ready to race!  Libby made it into the second round!  (There wasn't a second round in Sarah's division "Open", but her car performed really well.)

Ben's car was too light.  I didn't have anymore weights and so I just let it ride.  He's just excited the derby is over so he can use it as a toy.  (Poor guy had such a runny nose all week.  Not enough aquaphor to keep his lip from chapping).

Everyone got an award.  But Sarah didn't seem to notice that.  She was so delighted that she got an award she kept telling me over and over, "I can't believe I got an award!  I'm so excited!"

One Proud Mama!

This week I was one proud mama!
We had parent/teacher conferences with the girls' teachers.
They are both making so much progress.  Sarah is reading at a 3rd grade level.  Which is amazing, since she is in 1st grade.  Libby is reading at a 3rd grade level, which is also awesome because at the start of 2nd grade we were concerned that she was a bit below grade level.  Both girls have gotten so good at doing their homework with only occasional reminders from me to focus.  (This is a huge change from Libby's homework ethic last year, where I had to sit with her for every minute or she didn't get anything done.)

Other awesome accomplishments from the week:

Ben rode his scooter the whole way to preschool (except for a couple of scary hills).  He has done this once before, but it was with a fair amount of whining and stopping.  This time he just went for it!

All the kids worked on sanding their pinewood derby cars.  I helped with some more than others, but their cars are taking shape.  Which is good, because the derby is this Friday.  Huge thanks to Gary Butterfield for cutting the cars out for us.  

And the biggest news of all!!!  Sarah rode her bike!  1st time ever.  She has been ready since last summer, right before my surgery.  But since then I haven't been able to run with her to get her started.  Yesterday I just went for it.  My hip feels pretty good today, doesn't seem to have any adverse effects.  I had to explain to Sarah that there are a few skills to master before you are actually able to ride.
1.  Getting started
2.  Riding
3.  Turning
4.  Stopping
She got pretty discouraged because the only one she really has down is the riding.  Still working on getting started, turning and stopping (and when you aren't good at turning or stopping it can be a little painful, especially when you are wearing a skort).  But the riding is the trickiest part, right?  So, we will be working on it during breaks from the rain this week.  If we have any.  

I don't have a picture of this one, but at gymnastics, Libby's class got a chance to climb the rope.  It is a big rope hung from a really high, warehouse type ceiling.  And Libby climbed it.  Basically all the way.  Yep, she is strong, agile and tough (as I was writing this she was climbing up the door jam to the playroom).  My ninja warrior?

I was also super proud of both girls when they had a double playdate on Friday (meaning they each had a friend over).  They stopped both friends in the laundry room and explained, "Last time we had a double playdate it was, well, horrible....So we want you two to be friends too, so we can all play together.  OK?"  It was so mature and cute the way they handled it.  I loved it.

Then, as the playdate was ending, Libby told her friend that she had an early birthday present for her.  I caught Libby and asked what was in the gift bag (tissue paper and all).  It was Libby's Book of Mormon.  And, Libby had handwritten instructions on how to pray.  I wish I could have read them and maybe taken a picture.  So so sweet.  And potentially awkward.  But I let her hand it off to her friend.  It was given with a lot of love.  My little missionary.  She also invited her friend to activity days and church.  That is my Libby, bold and brave.

I also posted this on FB, but Derek was named District and Regional Middle School Wrestling Coach of the year.  Perfect day to find this out as Einstein Wrestling beat Evergreen for the first time ever in his career and breaking Evergreen's 14 year winning streak.  It was a great week!

Our International Wrestling Banquet and Stuff...

This was one of those weeks where I sat down to blog and had to think--what did happen this week?  I had to look at my calendar and pictures to find out.  Drawing a total blank.  This is partly because it is SEASONAL ALLERGY SEASON AGAIN!  The last couple of years have been rough.  I have to take something every day.  It is a trade off, because I am not itching, sneezing, or tearing up.  But I am groggy.  Have difficulty staying on task, and seriously, did I mention groggy?

But, some things were accomplished around here (passive voice intended).  I may have been involved.  Not sure.  Too groggy to know.  Okay, so it isn't quite that bad.  But almost.

Here is a rundown of the week.

Everyday:  Check in on #gobigforcasey to see how Derek's cousin is doing.  Casey was in a snowboarding accident and has been in a coma all week.  It is strange how I only met him a few times.  But this week I made the meal I made when he was here.  I wore the shirt I made in Colorado when we were at the Fehlberg family reunion with him.  I thought about how hard it would be to see your child fighting for his life.  I prayed a lot.  And I felt reassured that God is mindful of Casey and his family.  And reassured that the hard things that happen can make us better.

My girls had a total crush on Casey when he came to visit.

Monday:  The wrestling banquet.  This has ended up being my big part of the season.  I make the invite, this year I also did the centerpieces and gave a little lecture on changing your habits to become the wrestler you want to be.  Whew!  Here's to a better season next year!  (This was also a night that the kids officially exited the Whole30 reintroduction.  Libby ate about 6 brownie bites and all the kids had gluten, dairy and dessert.  And, they got gut rot from overdoing it.)

If you are interested, here is a link to the talk I gave the wrestlers.
Change your Habits, Change your Life

Ben wanted to match dad for the banquet.  Two very handsome men!  Derek's body really shed the pounds during whole30!

My centerpieces.  Thanks to the help of a good friend, we painstakingly traced and cut out 20 t-birds.  When Geneva saw them she said, "You know we have a die-cut of that shape..."  UGH!!!  And, I want a cricket.  Then I can have any shape I want.  Better save my pennies.

This team had 42 kids finish the season.  

This year's invitation.

Tues:  Libby woke up with super sore legs and back from jumping off the playground equipment at school.  "Did it hurt when you did it?" I asked.  "No!  It was scary!  But fun. So I jumped 5 more times."  So we went to the chiropractor instead of to gymnastics.  Her quads were the most sore.  She didn't start walking normally until Friday.  Poor silly girl.

Wed:  I saw the chiropractor.  He recommended seeing another surgeon.  My pain has gone on long enough.  I may go back and see my other surgeon again, just so I don't have to start the whole story again.  But I am over the pain.  After school, the usual.  Sarah had dance, quick dinner, then Libby had activity days.  Seriously, I know it only gets busier.  Not sure how that is possible.

Thurs:  Piano.  Ben and I left the girls at lessons and watched a bit of the Einstein Wrestling match since it was only a few blocks away.  They are looking pretty good!  (At least in the matches we saw.)

Fri:  I went to the Northwest Yoga Conference to get some CECs.  It was really really awesome to do yoga again.  I had to modify some, but it was so much better than 4 months ago.  My range of motion is much better.  I fell asleep in the last class of the day.  But I felt more relaxed than I have in months.

Saturday:  I had clients and we went to Costco (yeah, Costco on a Saturday, terrible).  And then the kids played on the tramp ALL. DAY. LONG.  It was amazing.  I love having them play outside.  I am ready for summer.

All week the kids were asking me for stories about my life and my mission.  So last night I pulled out some pictures from my mission and we looked at them.  My favorite quote was Ben, "Mom, do not ever do your hair like that again.  It is awful."  But it is so fun to have them getting excited about their missions already.